Proposal to alter marijuana laws stems from inequity in how minor possession cases are handled

View full sizeTim Roske / APNew York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly speaks during a news conference Monday in Albany about changing the punishment for possession of a small amount of marijuana. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing the decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of marijuana in public view.

Albany, NY -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday proposed weakening the punishment for openly possessing a small amount of marijuana, a change that would align the crime with the lesser penalty for concealing the same amount of the drug.

Currently, possessing any amount of marijuana is against state law. But if you have 25 grams or less of marijuana in your pocket — less than 1 ounce — you face a violation ticket and a $100 fine. If the same amount of the drug is in plain sight, you face a misdemeanor charge and jail time.

Cuomo wants to level the punishment for those caught with the small amount, whether it’s concealed or not.

The proposal comes after some state lawmakers and New York City community leaders complained that police there target young men and minorities, charging them with the harsher possession crime only after being stopped and frisked.

Statewide, police last year charged more than 53,000 people with the misdemeanor-level possession charge, technically called fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana.

Of those 53,000 arrests, 94 percent were in New York City. Four out of five charged were people of color. “Those numbers are stark,” Cuomo said Monday in Albany. “The problem is the law. The solution is change the law.”

In Syracuse, police usually charge a violation when they catch people with a small amount of marijuana. “Most of the time, if we’re charging the misdemeanor, it’s either a larger amount (of the drug) or because they are smoking it,” Syracuse police Sgt. Tom Connellan said.

Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, support Cuomo’s idea.

Cuomo said he believes in stricter punishment for using marijuana and said his proposed change was not a step toward legalizing the drug. “Smoking a joint is a different level of activity than just possessing it,” the governor said.